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Today in History: Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Television
Children’s puppet classic “Kukla, Fran & Ollie” debuted in 1948. Airing live and featuring the members of the “Kuklapolitan Players,” “Kukla, Fran & Ollie” lived on after its primetime run (on NBC through 1952 and on ABC from 1954 to 1957) in five-minute spots on NBC (1961-62), PBS (1969-71) and in syndication (1975-76)…ABC drama “Breaking Away,” based on the coming-of-age movie of the same name, debuted in 1980. It starred Shaun Cassidy and aired for only eight episodes.

News:
American film actress Natalie Wood drowned under mysterious circumstances while vacationing on a yacht off Santa Catalina Island, California in 1981. She was 42.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Actress Diane Ladd (“Alice”) is 88; musician Chuck Mangione is 83; singer-keyboardist Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals is 81; actor Jeff Fahey (“Lost,” “The Marshal”) is 71; director Joel Coen is 68; actor-comedian Howie Mandel is 68; actress Cathy Moriarty is 63; actress Kim Delaney (“NYPD Blue”) is 62; actor Andrew McCarthy is 61; actor Don Cheadle is 59; actor-producer Neill Barry (“Friends and Lovers”) is 58; singer Jonathan Knight of New Kids on the Block is 55; actor Larry Joe Campbell (“According to Jim”) is 53; actress Gena Lee Nolin (“Sheena,” ″Baywatch”) is 52; actor Brian Baumgartner (“The Office”) is 51; actress Anna Faris (“Mom,” ″Scary Movie”) is 47; actress Lauren German (“Lucifer,” ″Chicago Fire”) is 45; rapper The Game is 44; actor Lucas Black (“NCIS: New Orleans,” ″Sling Blade”) is 41; actress Lovie Simone (“Greenleaf”) is 25.

Did You Know?:
On Aug. 11, 2009, the US Postal Service issued a pane of twenty 44¢ commemorative postage stamps honoring early USA television programs including “Kukla, Fran and Ollie.”  The other stamps featured (in order of the shows in the below image) were “Texaco Star Theater,” “I Love Lucy,” “The Red Skelton Show,” “The Howdy Doody Show,” “Dragnet,” “Lassie,” “Hopalong Cassidy,” “You Bet Your Life,” “The Dinah Shore Show,” “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “The Phil Silvers Show,” “The Lone Ranger,” “Perry Mason,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show,” “The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet,” “The Tonight Show,” “The Twilight Zone” and “The Honeymooners.”